


saying something stupid (like i love you)

by sae_what



Category: Miraculous Ladybug
Genre: Denial of Feelings, F/M, Falling In Love, Flustered Chat Noir, Flustered Ladybug, Friends to Lovers, LadyNoir - Freeform, Ladybug is in love with Chat Noir, Love Confessions, Mutual Pining, Oblivious Chat Noir, Pre-Reveal Adrien Agreste | Chat Noir/Marinette Dupain-Cheng | Ladybug, Requited Love, Song: Something Stupid - Michael Bublé
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-12-19
Updated: 2020-12-19
Packaged: 2021-03-11 02:35:22
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,634
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28077810
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/sae_what/pseuds/sae_what
Summary: Chat Noir has finally come into terms that he and Ladybug will remain friends. He is okay with this; he cherishes every moment he has with his partner and best friend.Things would change, however, when Ladybug slips up and accidentally admits that she is in love with him.Chat Noir is convinced that this is all some kind of joke. Ladybug tries to be just as convinced.
Relationships: Chat Noir/Ladybug
Comments: 12
Kudos: 140





	saying something stupid (like i love you)

**Author's Note:**

  * For [SilverMoonSky](https://archiveofourown.org/users/SilverMoonSky/gifts).



> Beta'd by [fictionalinfinity](https://archiveofourown.org/users/fictionalinfinity). Thank you Maddy <3
> 
> Happy birthday, Silv! I love you so much and I hope you have an amazing birthday. You’ve been such an amazing and supportive friend through thick and thin, and you deserve all the love and light in the world. 
> 
> Hope you enjoy <3

The sky slowly fell into a shade of bright orange as Chat Noir swung his legs from the edge of the Eiffel Tower. He had just returned from yet another akuma fight with Ladybug, so he figured she was resting well back home, wherever she was in the vast city of Paris. 

He didn’t feel like going home yet. It was days like these where he felt grateful for where he was. He fought everyday, side by side with Ladybug, his best friend and his partner, someone that he knew front and back, inside out, even though she didn’t know her beyond the mask. 

Back then, Chat had always been stubborn to know about Ladybug’s identity, but months, then years had passed and he finally gave in to the reality that her identity was the one and only thing that Ladybug would never share. 

This was all for the best. Because it didn’t matter. Chat didn’t know who Ladybug was under the mask, but he knew her enough. 

He just hoped that she was resting well at home. 

So when he heard a familiar zipping of a certain yo-yo, his ears perked up in surprise. 

“Hey,” Ladybug spoke simply. 

Settled beside him, she hung her legs upon the edge of the tower as well, her frame basked into the oranges and yellows emitted by the sunset. She looked straight ahead, as if trying her best to avoid his eye contact. 

Chat read her expression for a bit, noticing how her shoulders tensed up and her posture slouched. 

“Hey, you okay, Ladybug?” he asked gently. 

Ladybug whipped her head to face Chat Noir, as though she completely forgot that he was sitting beside her. 

“Wh.. what? Yeah! I’m fine! Why wouldn’t I be?” Her voice cracked slightly. She was acting unusual. Chat could see right through her. 

“You just seem a bit.. tense?” Chat observed.

Ladybug paused for a bit before she turned her face back to the sky, slowly taking in a large inhale, exhale. She turned back to him. 

“No. Nothing to be tense about,” Ladybug finally gave him a small smile, to reassure him she was okay. “Good job today, as always.”

“How did you know I would be here?” Chat asked curiously. 

“Oh, uh... I would always notice you...” Ladybug’s sentence faded before she picked it back up again. “You’d always come to the Eiffel after an akuma attack. Do you not go home?”

The concern in her voice made him feel a bit guilty. But he couldn’t resist the temptation to tease her. He raised an eyebrow, the corners of his lips rising to form a grin. “Worried about me?”

Ladybug gave him a light shove, then snorted, “No! I-I mean, of course I am! Why wouldn’t I be?”

“You don’t need to worry about me, though,” Chat reassured, smile unfading. “I just don’t like going home right away. Plus, I really like the view from up here.”

Ladybug began to scan the cotton clouds and the birds that soared through them. 

“Yeah, I can see why you like it,” she said, releasing a relaxed sigh. 

Silence flooded between them. But that was okay. The two simply sat underneath the same sunset, same set of clouds, same sky. And everything in that moment was okay. 

Everything was still. 

And everything was okay. 

“I love you.”

And then Chat Noir’s heart stopped. 

Eyes wide, he tried to meet Ladybug’s, but she refused to even look at him, her cheeks puffed and face burning bright red. 

“Wh... what...?”

“No, no, no,  _ no _ !” Ladybug flailed her hands in front of her. “You completely misheard! You thought you heard one thing, see, but I said another thing, and I-“

“Wh... what did you  _ think _ I heard?” Chat’s pulse accelerated, swamped in heavy feelings of confusion. 

“I—I don’t know!” Ladybug stumbled. 

There was no way he heard what he  _ thought _ he heard. There was no way he could ever live a life where she felt that way about him. 

It was impossible. 

There was no way. 

“You’re joking, right?” Chat slipped. 

“Hu... wha... yes?” Ladybug gave him a goofy grin. She cleared her throat, and took a deep breath in to calm herself down, then laughed shyly, “Yeah! It was just... a humorless joke. Stupid, right?”

“Oh!” Chat sighed, wanting to feel relieved, but he couldn’t ignore the familiar sting he felt in his chest. 

There was no way he wanted to confront feelings that he had been desperately and effortfully trying to repress for so long. And now that it had subsided, there was no way he was going to be selfish and ask for anything more from Ladybug. 

This was just going to give him childish hope. So childish. 

He wished he’d grow out of it. 

Chat forced a laugh, convincing himself that what Ladybug had said truly was a joke. 

And Ladybug’s demure laugh became more and more artificial. 

“Ha! Yeah, you know me! Best comedian of Paris,” she plastered a toothy grin, cheeks still flushed red, her eyes pooled with tears of laughter. 

And still, Chat’s heart beat abnormally, afraid that it would jump right out of his chest. 

He wiped a tear. “Yeah, best comedian ever.”

It fell silent again, and once it grew uncomfortable enough, Ladybug stood quickly and zipped out of the Eiffel Tower, leaving Chat Noir’s side cold and alone. 

* * *

That moment was perfect. 

So damn perfect. 

The sky was so beautiful. And  _ Chat Noir _ was there with her. 

Perfect. Until it wasn’t. 

And she managed to spoil it all and say something so stupid. 

_ “I love you.” _

There was no way that her spoken words meant anything. They were just words that mindlessly slipped out of her. No heart to it. No truth to it. Whatsoever. 

There was no way she was in love with Chat Noir. 

Because he was her best friend, her partner. And things were so perfect between them. 

She had already ruined this perfect late-afternoon, was she going to ruin their friendship next?

Chat Noir didn’t love her anymore. 

She knew that. And Chat had put in so much effort to respect that she would never love him. 

And so, he let go. And they forged something else between them. Friendship. And both of them cherished it  _ so _ much. 

So even though her head kept  _ insisting _ this, that things should stay the same as it had, why was there something in her chest that burned for something more?

She had zipped out of the Eiffel Tower, leaving Chat Noir by himself, the Parisian air stinging her eyes, her lungs, her whole entire being and her entire sense of self. 

She felt  _ awful _ . What had she done? Why did she  _ say _ that?

_ They’re not true, Marinette. It’s not true, it’s not true, it isn’t— _

She would say this to herself, over and over again. Until this stupid heavy feeling in her chest would finally subside. This kind of pain, this sting. It was so unfamiliar. Unfamiliar and terrifying. She didn’t want this, any of this.

Ladybug couldn’t bring herself to go back home. Instead, she settled atop the rooftop where she could visibly view the rest of Paris, her back facing the Eiffel Tower. 

After an akuma attack, she would usually go home and rest, but her mind just kept running, and she didn’t know why—or at least, she didn’t want to  _ think _ about why—but something pulled her towards the Eiffel Tower. 

But even if she didn’t want to think of it, she  _ knew _ the reason. 

She knew Chat Noir was there. 

She was pulled towards him. 

She gravitated towards  _ him _ , and lately she’d just wanted to be close to him, and how selfish of her to ever want something so unobtainable. 

So she curled herself upon the rooftop, with no one beside her. She closed her eyes, trying her best to steer her focus away from her thoughts, and took in slow deep breaths. 

It didn’t help to calm her down. 

“M’lady.”

Her stomach twisted in the most unusual way that it could. 

How could he say that, say that word, as he didn’t know how much it had an effect on her. He managed to wound her even more, so effortlessly, so carelessly. 

She slowly turned to him as he settled beside her. 

“I didn’t know you would follow me,” Ladybug was starting to burn up all over again. She could just run away again to spare herself from the embarrassment, run and never have to bring up the stupid things she said, never have to confront this whole situation ever again. She could just disappear—

“I love you too.”

Ladybug opened her mouth, but no words or sounds escaped beyond her parting lips. 

“I... I’ve always loved you. But... I didn’t want to put my feelings before yours. So I just pushed them away, and...” Chat’s eyes glowed as the sun finally sunk into the horizon, the sky transitioning to a rich blue. 

Ladybug was mesmerized, just by him. By her best friend, her partner, and now, if she was allowed, so much more. 

For the first time ever, she caved. 

“Stop talking,” Ladybug whispered, pulling him to her, tangling her fingers through his hair. 

For the first time, she finally succumbed to the force pulling her towards him. 

Her lips collided with his, and Chat’s eyes widened in surprise before he too relaxed into the kiss. 

For the first time, she didn’t feed into the lies she’d constantly tell herself. 

She wanted to live her truth, Chat Noir’s truth. 

She loved him. 

She loved him  _ so _ much. 

And  _ that _ was something she didn’t want to change. 

The stars sparkled and sang, they danced with the rhythm of their shared breaths. Absolutely nothing could spoil this moment.


End file.
